Republicans' Budget Proposals A Sham

The budget proposals put forth by Republican state legislators are hypocritical [March 16, Page 1, "GOP Details $200M In Cuts"]. Is this the party that is constantly criticizing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for oversized state government or a party that is just trying to curry favor with state employee unions for the next election?

The fact is that we no longer need the same size government that existed in the past. The Republicans' furlough proposal does not shrink the size of government nor deliver long-term savings. We have a new economic reality in Connecticut, and this calls for permanent staff reductions. This is difficult, but it is only way state government will become more efficient and sized appropriately.

Additionally, reducing funding for top performing charter schools and implementing public university cuts while maintaining $140 million in hospital funding is a mistake. Cutting funding to schools will reduce their effectiveness and force tuition increases on state students. This makes no sense as hospitals continue to pay exorbitant salaries to their leaders and continue to run inefficiently.

For a party that screams for smaller government and criticizes the Democrats for currying favor with the unions, their proposals seem very hypocritical.